Sin Catcher
by Harumiko
Summary: Currently our heroine is facing off with her first enemy, fear join us in act one of this two parter as the first battle starts...Mina vs. Fear!
1. Default Chapter

As the day slowly passed by, a Mongoose girl made her way through a village. The name of the village was Knothole, and the name of the girl was Mina. Mina had beautiful, long and wavy purple hair that looked like a river that flowed down her body. Her emerald green eyes looked like jewels and her vibrant yellow fur contrasted her eyes and hair beautifully. She wore, what she normally did. Tail boots that reached her knees and gloves the same color that reached her elbows. The gloves were big and had a black decoration that moved around her backhand and palm and on the backhand part of the decoration that was on the glove that had three small holes. The three holes had been engraved into black decoration and they were the color of majority of the glove, the holes were placed in the position of a triangle, a dot at each angle. The gloves that were tail pretty much fit well with her green eyes. The black on the gloves matched the black headband she wore and the black of her shirt, which had sleeves three fingers wide and it showed her stomach. Lastly she had brown shorts that were most likely the same material normal indigo jeans were. They were rolled up to her thigh and had a black belt that went through the loops of the shorts. Overall, the pants complemented her yellow fur fairly well and though she looked very pretty and cute, she didn't feel too happy.  
  
She was running as fast as she could to a certain hut, even though her hope was to make it to school her first day in the new semester. She had several new classes and new teachers and the last thing she needed was to ruin her reputation in their eyes by being late to classes. Mina was frantic, and she wasn't paying attention to how fast she was running until it was too late. Mina tried to stop, but in the end she simply tripped. She prepared her body to rub against the ground when she noticed something; or rather someone had caught her. The individual was a male. He was a blue hedgehog with green eyes just like hers. He wore pretty much nothing save white gloves and sneakers that were red and white with a buckle that played as a replacement for shoe strings perhaps. His socks were white and were big and fluffy, reaching his ankles. However he wasn't concerned about his appearance, rather the safety of the mongoose he held.  
  
"Mina! Are you okay?!" He asked as he tried helping her regain her balance.  
  
In turn the mongoose looked at him and nodded while trying to catch her breath. Now assured she was okay he frowned.  
  
"Mina what were you thinking running at that speed? You know you can't control it yet and your only going to get yourself hurt! Your not finished with your training so you'll have to be patient."  
  
Mina blushed. She really cared about him. He was suave, sweet, caring, and though it was obvious that rude-boy attitude of his could be seen as his hard to reach exterior, she was beginning to see what was inside and loved it more and more everyday. He was perfect in her eyes, the guy who could do anything, the guy she'd dream about having. Mina was so caught up in thinking about him; she had forgotten to say anything in her defense. Quickly Mina snapped out of her thoughts and tried to say something.  
  
"I- I was trying to meet you at your house so we could go to school together, you said you wouldn't mind since you said you could go with me there before your training with the other freedom fighters." Mina said.  
  
Sonic looked at her shocked. She was wearing her backpack, had a packed lunch and everything. He scratched his head and didn't say anything for a few moments.  
  
"Mina, I did say I'd walk you to school, but not today because it's the weekend. There is no school today…"   
  
Mina was extremely embarrassed. How could she be so forgetful? Now she looked like a complete idiot in front of Sonic. She wanted to bury her head in her hands and cry, but instead she said nothing. She was completely silent and bit her lip, looking at the ground unable to face him. Sonic understood that Mina wasn't comfortable at the moment so he put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her.  
  
"Look Mina-girl everyone makes mistakes sometimes, we all forget about stuff. Don't take it to heart because you messed up once okay?" Sonic coaxed.  
  
Mina's ears twitched, she was shaking.  
  
'He's touching me!' Mina thought. She felt like her heart was melting in her body. She no longer felt bad, rather like she could jump over the moon millions of times. Mina responded to Sonic by nodding, still looking down at the ground, but she managed to crack a smile and in unison the two of them found themselves laughing at Mina's mistake. Mina no longer felt as bad about the incident as she had a few moments ago. So why not laugh about it?  
  
The two of them would laugh for a couple more minutes and eventually Mina stopped laughing and caught her breath and Sonic a few moments after.  
  
"Well… I'd love to laugh some more, but I have to go to the palace…I was going to go meet Sal so we'd have a picnic." Sonic said.  
  
" Oh… okay." Mina said trying to hide the disappointment in her voice.  
  
"I'll see ya later Mina-girl!" The hedgehog yelled as he ran away. He ran at incredible speed, he was much faster than her, much faster than anyone really. After all he is the fastest living being in the world.  
  
Mina's head hang low. She really wanted to be around him a lot more. Every time she did though it just never worked out. She tried becoming a Freedom Fighter like him. They fight against an evil dictator who rules majority of the world and by helping she thought she'd be with him, but she realized that wasn't right. The Freedom Fighters' hearts were in that sort of battle. To be a good Freedom Fighter her heart would have to be in that fight a lot too, and it was with Sonic more. She and Sonic didn't seem to be getting any time together. She loved him a lot but she didn't really think he cared about her the same way she did with him. She couldn't approach him as someone she loved because… well she wasn't wanted that way as far as she was concerned. His eyes were already on a girl named Sally, princess of the Acorn royal family.  
  
Him and Sally spent more time together than ever, leaving Mina out. She loved Sonic but he hadn't actually fallen for her yet, if he would at all. Still she had faith that maybe one day things could work out. She'd do anything for him. She even took the bullet for Sally one time when a band of weasels kidnapped her so that Sonic would be happy in case Sally was the girl he wanted. She'd go great lengths to see him smile, but until he could fall for her too, she couldn't see herself happy with life completely. However for now, just making him smile was enough.  
  
However she loved Sonic and it hurt that he wanted someone else at the moment. Though she refused to bug him about it. That could make him upset or unhappy. She couldn't bear that, but what could she do? Who could she tell her burdens to? Mina dragged her feet staring blankly at huts and villages. Small children were playing with a green ball. Two beaver children were playing jump rope, a bear was carrying his groceries into his hut…nobody. None of these villagers seemed like they'd have the time to deal with listening to her problems. So Mina kept walking deciding she'd simply go home, until she found a small hut.  
  
"Miranda's counseling service grand opening… First two days of counseling free." Mina read aloud. Mina continued to stare at it for a few moments.  
  
'Perhaps this is the sort of thing I should look into.' Mina thought and then stopped moving. She would eventually decide it would be the best thing to go into the hut anyway. The mongoose girl slowly approached the door and knocked softly on it. No one answered. So she knocked harder, again no one answered.  
  
"Hello?" Mina shouted knocking on the door so hard she was afraid the door would fly off.  
  
"Just a minute…" said a soft feminine voice.  
  
Hustling could be heard behind the door of the hut and eventually a black cat opened the door. Her ears were pressed in a horizontal direction even though normal cats had ears the pointed up vertically. Her golden eyes looked at Mina and her long black hair was so long it dragged to the floor. Her bushy tail moved side to side almost impulsively and she wore a golden dress with golden bracelets, two on her right wrist and one on the other.  
  
"Can I help you?" She asked.  
  
"Well I read the grand opening thing and I was wondering if-"   
  
"Of course! I'm miss Miranda. Sorry for not coming to the door earlier but I'm putting books and stuff in here now as I tidy up my office. Running your own business isn't always easy you know."  
  
Mina never ran her own business to understand completely but she simply nodded.  
  
"Come on in!" the black cat offered.  
  
Mina walked into hut and the cat let gave a grin that showed one or two of her teeth.  
  
"Now…what seems to be the problem?" The cat said inviting Mina to sit on a chair, Mina accepted the offer and sat down before trying to speak.  
  
"Well…Miss Miranda- - I love this guy who doesn't care about me at this moment the way I do for him. I feel somewhat neglected and alone, and I don't really feel close with any other people besides this guy and my mother…but the love between my mother and I is different between the type I have for this guy. I've been respecting his want not to love me right now. As he already has eyes for the princess Sally…"  
  
The head of the cat perked up.  
  
"Princess Sally as in… Princess Sally Acorn?" The cat quickly questioned.  
  
"Yes Princess Sally…"  
  
The cat crossed her legs.  
  
"So if you don't mind me asking…who is this guy?"  
  
Mina hung her head low before burying her head into her hands.  
  
"Oh c'mon I probably won't even know who this guy is nor have I probably ever heard of him…he's just a name to me."  
  
Mina looked at the cat.  
  
"Miss Miranda…so by any chance you wouldn't know who Sonic the hedgehog is?" The mongoose whispered.  
  
Miss Miranda nearly jumped out of her seat.   
  
"You know Sonic the hedgehog? That's incredible!" The cat exclaimed.  
  
"Uh…yeah, I suppose it is until you fall in love with him…because then your heart gets broken."  
  
"Because he wants princess Sally." Ms. Miranda added.  
  
"That's pretty much the idea." Mina sighed.  
  
"I can't stand this, I feel a bit betrayed, upset, lonely, angry and more." Mina growled.  
  
The cat purred a little bit.  
  
"Well why don't you take something I was going to give randomly to any of my patients. You want the power to change the world to make it a happier place? I can help with that… of course by doing this it may cost you your life."  
  
"Miss…Miranda?" Mina said puzzled.  
  
The black cat went to fetch something off to get a box on the kitchen's table. When she handed it to the Mongoose her eyes widened. The box was extremely beautiful. It was incrusted with gems of all colors. Pinks, blues, purples, oranges, reds; varieties of colors decorated the box to almost make the box look like sunset turning into night.   
  
"Its beautiful…" Mina's voice trailed off.  
  
"Its also yours now." The cat mentioned.  
  
"You see… I get this feeling that you're someone who could put this box to good use and to help it fulfill the purpose it was given many years ago. My family has been holding the box but none of us have felt it was right for any of us to uphold the responsibility we would face if we…"  
  
"If you what?" Mina chimed in once she realized the cat wasn't speaking.  
  
"You will find out soon enough. Of course if you don't want to change your world…or at least do what needs to be done to change it…do not…and I repeat…do not open this box whatsoever and return it to me. Think carefully about this young lady … would you risk your life to see all the world's troubles go away?"  
  
"I… I don't know. I feel a little young to die. Not to mention you've never told me exactly what's in it." Mina stammered.  
  
The cat tried to smile and stroked the mongoose's hair.  
  
"Child its something that sounds scary at first but if you have the heart deep down to do this then… it should not be a problem. Tell you what… Look at your own life. Think about whether or not the evils in your own life are bad enough to make you risk your own life to rid yourself of them. Go home and think about it."  
  
Mina exhaled in response.  
  
"Okay…"  
  
The cat handed Mina the beautiful box and patted her on the back.  
  
Mina gave her a weak smile in an attempt to cover the fear. What exactly lied in this box? She had to know. Miranda didn't tell her, so she might as well find out herself when she got home. The walk seemed a little too short for Mina. She was full of anticipation and couldn't help but grow a desire to know what the box held. Her finders ran against the jewels on the box and a few villagers every now and then looked at it.  
  
When the mongoose girl arrived home an older mongoose looked at her arrive and brushed one of her long bangs from her face. Her hair was just as long as her daughter's except it was strait, not wavy and had two large quantities of hair split to make the bangs. She wore a green robe and slowly went back to preparing some food.  
  
"Hey Mina…I'm making salad tonight, is that okay? The mongoose asked quickly while pulling out lettuce and tomatoes from her refrigerator.  
  
"Sure mom!" The Mongoose said hardly seeming to care much about what her mother was saying; rather she just wanted to be alone in her room. Eventually Mina made it into her room and shut the door. Her room had been redecorated to have white walls and a lavender rug. The bed was fluffy and her sheets and blanket were also as lavender as the rug, the pillow on the other hand was white. There was a wooden desk somewhere beside Mina's bed a black trashcan beside it. Mina quickly sat on her bed and stared at the box, getting ready to open it when she remembered, were the problems in her life so great that she would risk her life to get rid of them? Well for one thing, Sonic played a big part in her life. She loved him more than anything else but that may have been prevented or perhaps it could have developed if evils in the world didn't stand in the way as much. The aftermath of this heartbreak consisted of negative emotions Sonic would never know she had because she didn't want to be a burden on him; rather she wanted to make him happy regardless of whom he loved now.  
  
She owed a lot to Sonic. He was the best friend she ever had, he was supporting, he inspired her to get into a singing career, he inspired her look into her opportunities in life and perhaps see the good inside of herself she didn't care to see until she met him. He had done so much; yet she couldn't possibly love him back in return. Perhaps if the evils in the world weren't as bad, things could be fair. Things could be right like they were supposed to be. She finally after moments of thought she decided that she would definitely open the box.  
  
  
  
Slowly the girl opened the box trying to look if it had something inside. When she opened it, there was no magical amulet, not pretty gemstone, or magic wand like she thought. As the matter of fact there was nothing in the box at all. Mina stuck her hand in it to see if it might be something she couldn't see she even turned the box upside-down so that perhaps something would fall out, but nothing.   
  
"Well…that was interesting. I'll just return this thing tomorrow."  
  
Mina placed the box on her bed before flopping into her bed herself and got ready to go to take a nap. Of course this was becoming rather difficult. Something was tugging at her to keep awake, and not to fall asleep… literally. Mina shrugged it off at first as it was a rather gentle tug, but as the tugs became more forceful Mina turned around to see the culprit, expecting her mother probably trying to wake her for dinner, however she would become filled with shock when she saw that her mother wasn't the one tugging at her, rather three figures.   
  
The first was white, its green eyes looking at her. Its hands were a translucent blue color as was the blue on the tip of his back. Sparkles emitted themselves from the creature's body as it did from the other three. On the top of his head rested a ball of light, and it was so bright that it made Mina turn her head to see something else which would be the second small creature. The second was black. His eyes were gold and on his hands spikes appeared on his knuckles. Black horns came from his head and parts of his body had a translucent color that varied from red to yellow. A blue flame rested on top of his head and on his chest was a crescent there was purple engraved into his body. He looked small but frightening but he didn't seem like he would attack her. However the third creature made her heart want to melt. Mina looked into this creature's blue eyes. Her body was white just as the first but had bangs that looked very much like her mother's but frilly at the ends. On the tips of her hands and bangs was a pink translucent color; a yellow halo on top of her head was white and translucent as well. However the other two creatures eventually had their eyes on her as her hand was stuck in her mouth and her eyes peered innocently at Mina.  
  
"Get that hand out of your mouth Angel-cakes!" The black creature snapped.  
  
In response the creature slowly took her hand out of her mouth and felt her eyes begin to water and her throat tighten.  
  
"Demon apologize this instant! You're going to make her cry!" The blue and white creature whispered harshly to the black one. However the black creature refused to say anything, and eventually just as he was warned the pink and white creature began to cry.  
  
Everyone in the room covered their ears as her loud shrieks and wails filled the room. Mina flinched as she heard the creature's cries. She had to make it quiet now! Mina quickly picked up the pink and white creature and put it in her arms. This creature had the mentalities or a child, if not a baby. The mongoose concluded that perhaps she would have to calm it down like one, which wouldn't be hard as she dealt with children plenty of times. She cradled the small creature in her arms and sang to it. The melody of the mongoose's voice managed to calm it down along with the cradling of its body. Eventually the creature stopped her crying and the other two on her bed were dozing off trying but apparently failing an attempt not to go to sleep by the soothing melody. The blue and white creature quickly lost all his will to stay awake and thud was heard a few moments later as one of them fell from the bed to the ground.   
  
"Excuse me for a minute…" The black creature laughed with hints of embarrassment in his voice as Mina stopped singing.  
  
He then flew to the fallen creature and started slapping him with his hand. Eventually after about ten to twenty smacks to the face the creature woke up from his sleep.  
  
"What is wrong with you two? We have job to do!" The black creature shouted.  
  
In response to this the now fully awakened creature had rubbed himself in the areas he was hit.  
  
"Yeah well…this wouldn't have started if you'd have apologized like I told you to!" The other one hissed.  
  
"Boys stop that! We've got a job to introduce. For this girl's best interest I think she should know what it is right away." The creature in Mina's arms interrupted causing the other two to end their argument and fly onto Mina's bed.  
  
"Well now that I have your attention seems to be on me…can I ask you three something?" The mongoose said quickly.  
  
"Sure." The three retorted in unison.  
  
"Who are you?" Mina asked.  
  
"Who are we?" The pink and white creature asked ready to answer.  
  
"Of course us we're the only one's in the room dum—" The black creature cut himself off understanding what could be the consequence if he upset the other one again.  
  
"We are… chao." The blue and white one cut in trying to create a fairly decent conversation.  
  
"Uh… what's a chao?" Mina pondered aloud.  
  
"A chao is a creature made many years ago. We were the product of the gene bombs produced by the Xorda just as you and your descendants are. Three thousand years ago the aliens this world encountered came to destroy it with the gene bombs that mutated most of the living creatures here. During that time history would reborn itself for the most part. This is when our kind had formed and we would grow to become a peace loving type. We stored plenty of the chaos the world had been holding inside so that this world could recover from the attack and become unified in the end. The power of our generation's chaos was so great the chaos emeralds were where it would be stored. However the emeralds have limitless power because of the fact that the emeralds can turn thoughts in to power whether they be negative or positive and as long as wicked thoughts can promote chaos in the world… bad chaos exists and those emeralds will be used to vessel its power in the form of energy…"  
  
"Well then why don't you stop the evil?" Mina asked.  
  
The black one hung his head.  
  
"We tried that. We sealed away all the evils in the world…into the box you just opened. Of course there's nothing in it now, but there used to be. We trusted a girl named Pandora to hold the box for safekeeping. Instead of guarding it like she and her descendants were intended to for eternity, she opened it and set the evils free. It took so many of our kind to trap them, only for her to open up that box and have our efforts seem in vain. Our peace loving kind wanted peace but evils such as fear and deceit would always promote war… we sealed away everything that would promote bad things…for nothing. The black chao mumbled.   
  
The pink hedgehog cleared her throat, as the black one's faded.  
  
"That's where you come in. You see we had decided that after she opened the box we'd try again, only however if we gained some assistance. We felt that whoever would help us would have a strong enough will to help us remove evils. As chaos is power enriched by the heart. The hearts of the world are filled with evil, which will promote bad chaos to occur. Only when we have removed such evils from the world will we have accomplished what our kind feels they were born to have done, spread peace. Our kind has disappeared with the appointed guardian of our kind along with a close friend of our kind. However as the strongest of our kind, we have decided we hold power to make a difference alone... and without their help, so we've remained in the box for eons and even though their spirits leave we have concluded we shall stay."  
  
The black chao moved towards Mina.  
  
"I am Demon. I represent the Dark Chaos in the world… therefore I am known as Dark Chaos."  
  
The pink and white chao in Mina's arms looked up.  
  
"I am Angel. I represent the good left in the world despite the chaos that's in it and chaos made under good circumstances… so I'm pretty much also called Hero Chaos.  
  
The blue and white chao looked up at Mina and flew over top of her head.  
  
"I am Star. I represent the intensity of the war between good and evil. I represent either side or none, as chaos can be a result of either good or evil intentions in the beginning. All three of us were given power by our protector Chaos to bear each side of him in case he died or left, so that we would protect our people. He thought, as did the world that our kind were dead. However even though we don't know what fate the other chao had befallen we lied here in this box ever since he was sealed away which was sometime after the evils returned to the world, as we concluded to find a way to stop the evil that forced him to be sealed."  
  
"I'm not getting it…what does this have to do with me?" Mina mumbled shyly.  
  
"The hero chaos chao heard her question and prepared to answer.  
  
"You have indicated by opening the box you share our desire to rid the world of evil. We shall guide you to that day where evil is done away with, however evil doesn't want to be sealed. It enjoys being free in the hearts of everyone and it will try to do anything to make sure things stay that way. That also includes the fact it will try to kill you. As you by opening the box have proclaimed to the evils of the world that you will be willing to do away with them. They can come in the form of their own creations and entities or people you know; perhaps they may try to consume you themselves. They'll do this to get close to you... so that they can kill you. You must seal them away before they kill you as we're now stepping on the battlefield of the war waged against good and evil."  
  
Mina blinked.  
  
"So I have to fight…evil? Well… don't I get some cool wand, or bracelet or jewel?"  
  
All three chao shook their heads in unison.  
  
"That won't be necessary. All the power that lies within stopping chaos lies within those who were born to have it. You don't need to have an abstract force fight this battle for you… you can do this yourself. Just don't get cocky, evil is out to kill you after all." Demon said.  
  
  
  
"Well I guess this is weird. Now I know how it is to be Sonic fighting evil…" Mina sighed.  
  
"Sonic? What's a Sonic?" Angel asked Mina.  
  
"Oh he's a cool blue hedgehog I'm in love with right now and is defender of the world… we've got a lot in common and we're really good friends."  
  
Star rubbed his chin with his hand.  
  
"Looks like you two will have something in common…Well everything is alright with this Sonic correct?"  
  
Mina in response shook her head.  
  
"No not everything's perfect. For one thing he likes the princess of the village and it seems I may not ever have a chance to get to his heart as much as her. Still … I can't help but love him anyway."   
  
"It looks to me that you're going to have to find a way to solve the evils that exist in your life too." Star sighed.  
  
"As will we all…"  
  
Mina breathed and slumped into her bed. What in the world did she get herself into? Fighting evil? Isn't this a job for Sonic or the Freedom Fighters? She's pretty much an average girl other than her babysitting, singing and speed talents, what could she do? What did she have that could stop the evils, no intense super powers, and no magic trinkets and now evil would come to haunt her. What the heck was she going to do to get out of this predicament? She should've thought more into Ms. Miranda's words and to return the box, now its set in stone, either fight or die.  
  
~End of chapter one.  
  
R&R 


	2. Fear

The sun was slowly setting in a forest, and the breeze that had been very strong earlier in the day had now calmed down. Yet for a moment a gust of wind swept through the forest that rivaled the force of the winds earlier. The cause was the rapid movements of two creatures. The first was a blue hedgehog and the second was a mongoose. The two ran through areas of the great forest south of their location was the village. The village consisted of small huts made of straw and wood. Other homes that served like an apartment were built into some of the strongest and longest trees of the village. Wooden bridges were connected to each tree and thick healthy looking lumber was made to wrap around the tree apartments almost as if they were stairways.  
  
There were no cars in the village and in fact to have a miniature vehicle was very prized and the greatest hero of the village was the only one recorded to have one in the village, he was so pleased he even slept in his. The village itself wasn't primitive rather it wasn't focused on technology that would fail to help their goals. The village was so small that driving by car probably wasn't even necessary. The villagers were the type that were always prepared for the unexpected because of the ongoing war they had with a selfish dictator, and yet the inspiring thing was that behaved so carefree with their environment. Some of them can accept and follow an assumed destiny they feel they have while others in the village continuously fight what can merely appear to be what looks like fate. Their isn't much hostility amongst the villagers, in fact they're normally at peace with one another and the only time prejudice and tension tend to rise is when overlanders the four fingered humans 'intrude' in their home. As the elderly and middle aged residence remember the constant battles with them and in the end their way from preventing an unexpected fight is the want to eliminate the cause before it begin. The blue hedgehog and the mongoose were from this proud village even though they weren't as prejudice. They moved rapidly as they raced through the forest north of their home Knothole village.  
  
"Ready Mina? We're gonna run a little faster!" The blue hedgehog yelled.  
  
"O-okay Sonic!" The mongoose yelled back.  
  
As the blue hedgehog gained speed the mongoose would try to do the same. Of course as she increased her speed she felt her stomach turn.  
  
'I.I'm so nervous.' She thought to herself.  
  
'What if I fall.? What if I trip and embarrass myself in front of Sonic? What if I run too fast and hit something?'  
  
Mina's panicking made it so that she didn't adjust her eyes to the amount of speed she was going. When she tried taking her attention back to the actual task at hand she was going too fast and couldn't see where she was going. Eventually she ran in different directions hoping she was going the right way. Sonic who was having an easy time with running noticed Mina wasn't handling it to well at all.  
  
"Okay Mina.I see this is getting tough.so do you want to stop? Mina?.... Mina stop!"  
  
But it was no use, she wasn't focused on his words at the moment, she was too scared to do anything but panic. A few moments later Mina would find her body crashing into a tree. Her body felt a lot of pain as it also felt slightly crushed due to the rapid acceleration of her body when she collided with the tree.  
  
"Mina!" Sonic cried and ran over to the fallen mongoose.  
  
"Mina I told you to stop." Sonic then whispered.  
  
Mina groggily tried regaining her focus and shook her head as she got up.  
  
"I'm sorry Sonic.I lost control again." Mina groaned as she tried to stand up herself.  
  
Sonic glanced at her attempt to stand and noticed that she stumbled a little bit and had a bump on her head. Sonic tried to hold her in fear that she'd fall.  
  
"Mina I think I should carry ya home." Sonic sighed looking at the bump on her head.  
  
"I'm fine Sonic.I can do this." Mina said trying to reassure Sonic she was nothing to worry about. Sonic slowly let go of Mina and let her try to walk on her own. Mina walked slowly and felt her head pound with large amounts of pain. She felt sick; her head had a feeling that was mixed with pain and dizziness. She tried to calm her head down by pressing her hand on her head. Almost as soon as she put her hand against her head she felt a bump and the pain magnified even more. Then everything got dark, the pain became too much. Mina groaned and lost conciseness and Sonic dashed to grab her.  
  
"Looks like I am going to have to carry you home after all Mina-girl." Sonic said to the no longer conciseness girl before running deep into the forest.  
  
It wasn't a long run for the blue hedgehog. The wind whipped against his fur and various leaves and branches moved into his face. His legs moved rapidly one after the other and the consistent pattern would last until he made it to the village he and Mina resided, Knothole Village. As Sonic made his way into the village he saw a woman with gray hair and buckteeth. The woman slowly walked wearing a blue dress and a red cape. She walked behind three children. The first was the only girl of the three; she was an ebony cat wearing a green vest and boot that matched the grass on the ground. The second was a bear. He had orange fur and wore blue shorts with his matching blue eyes that were facing Sonic. The third had auburn fur and ears that pointy ears. He was running to the blue blur and his jaw dropped when he saw whom the blue hedgehog held.  
  
"Mina!" The child screamed. Sonic stopped instantly when the child made his way the two of them  
  
"What's wrong Rory?" The bucktooth lady called out to the boy. As she moved closer to see what the problem was she gasped and looked at the girl in shock.  
  
"Sonic? What happened to her?" The woman said slowly trying to process what she was seeing.  
  
"Rosie.Mina hit a tree.and she got knocked out." Sonic answered.  
  
"You had better get her some attention immediately dear!" Rosie cried feeling tears well up in her eyes. She looked at Mina and tried not to cry. Mina was a big help to her, and helped baby-sit the children in her orphanage. But the three children at her side, they didn't try to hold back their tears at all, for they too knew her very well. She was their mentor and friend who watched over them and often times was a figure of comfort when they were scared. All three of them refused the notion of holding in their feelings, instead they sobbed as they saw the mongoose lying limply in the hedgehog's arms.  
  
"Sasha! Rory! Snaggle! Please stop crying.Mina wouldn't want you to do that." Rosie said softly.  
  
The black cat chocked as she sobbed.  
  
"Rosie.is Mina dead?"  
  
Rosie in response shook her head.  
  
"No.so don't worry children. Mina will be awake in no time."  
  
The children had difficulty believing the fact that even though she wasn't dead yet, that she couldn't die a few minutes later just by looking at her condition. Though the magnitude of their crying did manage to decrease. Even still the notion Mina was currently alive made all three of them feel a lot of weight lifted from their shoulders and eventually they hugged Rosie. Meanwhile Sonic had left them alone to do whatever they wanted to do next. He was focused on getting Mina home so that he could figure out what he and her mother should do.  
  
Hours would pass and so would fear and sadness, many would worry about the young mongoose, from her friends, her mentors, family and other loved ones who in the end would gather to see her. Lying in her bed wearing white pajamas, the young Mongoose would be surrounded by people she probably had no clue cared about her as much as they did. By her bed stood Sonic the hedgehog who was wrapping her head with gauze, another figure would be her mother on the verge of panicking.  
  
The orange two tailed fox known as Tails Prower and a pink hedgehog wearing a red and white dress, white gloves, gold bracelets on the wrists, a red headband and white and a pair of red white boots to match known as Amy Rose brought water from Mina's bathroom sink in bowls for the gauze. Other individuals around her were a rabbit called Bunnie who had cybernetic legs and one cybernetic arm. Her hair was combed down so it reached her neck. She wore a pink leotard and on her eyes were purple makeup for her eyelids that framed her green eyes. She nervously hugged a cyotee known as Antoine D'coolete who wore a yellow toupee and wore very prestigious clothes who hugged her back in an attempt to comfort her but deep down was just as worried and the purple walrus beside him could tell as their blue eyes looked at each other's.  
  
Rosie and the children she watched earlier also looked at the fallen mongoose. Their eyes were filled with tears and the black cat cried uncontrollably. Rosie did her best to stop the crying child but it was no use. Lastly a brown squirrel stood behind the rabbit and cyotee. She had short auburn hair and blue eyes that matched only her blue vest and boots. Her arms were folded and she simply looked at Mina occasionally looking somewhere else in the room every now and then brushing her auburn hair out of her face.  
  
"So.How's she gonna be doc?" Asked a blue hedgehog nervously.  
  
"She's got one heck of a bump." The yellow duck retorted. He wore a white doctor's outfit and looked at his watch.  
  
" I've concluded that Mina may have a concussion or something very close to it. Either way she shouldn't go anywhere unless she wants to run up the potential of making this worse. All in all she'll be fine. She'll just need plenty of rest."  
  
"Thank you doctor quack." Mina's mother said looking at her daughter and then at him.  
  
"Its no problem Mrs. Mongoose, being a doctor is a profession I enjoy. Of course whom you really should thank here is Sonic, he caught me on my way home from the hospital. I would think my wife's going to be pretty unhappy that I didn't come for dinner but I'm sure she will understand."  
  
Hearing the news Rosie looked down at Sasha Rory and Snaggle.  
  
"Its official children. Mina is going to be okay."  
  
The kids' faces brightened until Rosie said something else.  
  
"Now I'm afraid its way past your bedtime, so you three should be getting to bed right about now." Then the old woman turned to the fox and pink hedgehog in the room.  
  
"That goes for the two of you as well, I know you're helping Mina, but try not to stay up too late." She said to them before slowly walking out of the room with groaning children not in the mood to sleep at the moment.  
  
Tails and Amy looked down with their cheeks burning red.  
  
"Why do they treat us like we're babies?" Amy whispered harshly to the Tails two tailed fox cub.  
  
"Its probably because they feel we're the youngest in here." Tails answered.  
  
"But I'm only ten Amy! Those kids Rosie hauled away looked much younger!" Tails pouted.  
  
As the fox and hedgehog moved deeper into a conversation, Mina's mother and a blue hedgehog had their focus on the girl in the bed.  
  
"I should've been more careful." Sonic said with a lot of regret in his tone of voice.  
  
In response to this the older Mongoose rested her hand on the teenage hedgehog.  
  
"Listen Sonic, its not your fault. Sometimes she loses control, we have to expect this to happen next time but it's not your fault it just happens. Even if I could go back to change the events of time I wouldn't do a thing to stop Mina because she loves to train with you and you have no idea how happy it makes her to know she can spend some time to train with you." The mongoose said forming a gentle smile on her face.  
  
"Well Sugar-hot 'Twan and I are headin' out to rest. We'll probably check up on her later on tomorrow." The golden cybernetic rabbit yawned. Sonic turned around to face the rabbit and winked  
  
"G'night Bun! Take care of Ant for us!"  
  
Antoine in response frowned.  
  
"I am perfectly capable of being a protector of both Bunnie and myself Sonic! Unlike you Sonic, I am ready for anything!" Antoine argued before he let out a yelp of surprise when Bunnie playfully ran her hands through his toupee a few moments later.  
  
"Yeah my Sugar Twan' may not be the best at defense.or offense but he certainly is a gentlemen."  
  
The brown squirrel that had been silent for quite awhile folded her arms and grinned.  
  
"I would think that he could give Sonic here a few pointers for me." Sally said to Bunnie trying keep her serious tone of voice and not to laugh.  
  
"I'll be your perfect 'gentlemen' when you'll allow yourself to have some 'real' fun, After all who in the world would find it interesting to sit in a palace and sign petitions and practice ruling all day?" Sonic grinned as he teased her; of course Sally understood he was serious about not being interested in the things she had found pleasing. She frowned and spun to Sonic almost exactly when he finished the sentence.  
  
"I find that fun Sonic! And you will too if you want to hold the title royal consort.and king as these responsibilities I'm upholding are the same you will need to when your crown arrives." Sally nearly shouted and slapped her mouth shut when she realized Mina was still in the bed sleeping and that she wasn't to be disturbed.  
  
"I'm sorry Miss Mongoose. I think I'd better go home now." The squirrel said before marching out of the Mongoose family's hut. The mongoose would have waved to Sally but it was obvious she wasn't in much of a mood to do so much as look back to face everyone, she moved strait for the door.  
  
"Bye Princess." The Mongoose said quietly.  
  
"Sally.." Sonic muttered a little feeling a bit guilty. He understood Sally loved her work as a princess, but he didn't want to do what she did at all. He indeed had a desire to be with Sally, but to be king? Was the responsibility of being king and diplomatically helping the people something he truly wanted? Did he really wish to one-day hand over the fun of butt kicking 'Buttnik' or whatever foe approached parts of the world to some warlord or other individual other than himself? He didn't know and this question was one of the biggest problems he faced with entering a long term commitment with Sally that he tried placing into the back of his mind until the time came. Of course the insecurities were slowly oozing out of him and it wasn't pleasing the princess at all.  
  
"I'd better go after her Miss Mongoose.I think she's pretty upset. Sonic then looked at Mina and smiled before patting her on the head.  
  
"Later kid... get better for me okay?" Sonic whispered in Mina's before giving her small hug with one arm and patted her head with his other hand avoiding the bump that grew on it  
  
"Ooooooh" Tails said while snickering before being nudged by Amy. Sonic glared at Tails for a moment, his eyes narrowing before jogged away.  
  
"Aww Sonic I was just kiddin', its not like I heard anything you said to her!" Tails yelled out the window as Sonic passed the hut. Sonic ignored the two-tailed fox. He wasn't mad at him about his tease, but he was now focused on finding Sally.  
  
This left only four people in the room and Mina's mother felt that enough commotion had occurred in this room to last her daughter's entertainment for a week.  
  
Rotor eventually felt uncomfortable with the commotion occurring in the house and decided he'd let his nerves rest and get home. Now, only three individuals besides Mina stood in her room.  
  
"Tails, Amy.it's late. Would you like to make some cookies?" The mongoose asked in an attempt to remove them from the room.  
  
"Okay!" Amy exclaimed.  
  
"I want some too." Tails chimed in.  
  
Eventually all three individuals left the room leaving Mina alone, or so they thought. Even though there were three individuals leaving, three other's remained. A box on Mina's bed slowly rocked back in fourth until the lid was opened.  
  
"I'm going out first!" a black chao shouted yanking the other two chao squirming to get out of the box back in it.  
  
"Demon cut it out! We'll all get out if you just be patient!" Star grunted.  
  
"Excuse me?" Demon said glaring at his green eyes.  
  
"I have been waiting the most patient to get out of here! You two can wait!"  
  
As Star and Demon argued the last chao made her way out of the box and moved around on the bed, only to go running back to the box panicking to retrieve the quarreling chao.  
  
"Guys.GUYS! Quit yelling and get up here! Something's wrong with the girl! She looks dead!"  
  
Almost instantly the two chao stopped their fighting and got out the box. When the cause of panic was affirmed Demon's jaw dropped. The purple haired mongoose they just met was lay limply on her bed with something wrapped around her forehead. Star on the other hand was not at all worried like the other two. He stood calmly and watched her, for he knew she'd be okay. However he lost his cool when the once panicking chao started poking at Mina's face.  
  
"Angel do NOT touch her!" Star yelled.  
  
"Why? I wanted to see if the girl was okay." Angel whined back.  
  
"Mina.." The mongoose groaned. "My name is Mina."  
  
Angel gasped and hopped away from the girl she had been poking.  
  
"Welcome back to the world of conciseness.Mina." Star said adapting to saying her name.  
  
"How long was I out?" Mina whispered.  
  
"A few hours. A lot of individuals came worried about you tonight but the doctor says you'll be okay." Star answered.  
  
"Hey! How do you know that?" Angel interrupted.  
  
"Well while Demon was pouting as he 'patiently' waited for an chance to leave the box and you visiting dreamland as you slept, I peeked out the box to watch everything that happened."  
  
Mina slowly blinked her eyes.  
  
"I thought for certain I could hear Sonic whisper to me."  
  
"Sonic?" Star asked.  
  
"The blue hedgehog she likes remember!" Angel whispered loudly.  
  
"Oh.well I saw a blue that was in here. He stirred up the most commotion in the room."  
  
Mina blushed and quickly jerked her body up not even thinking about the pain she had in her head.  
  
"What did he do? Did he say anything? Is he okay? Why'd he leave?!" Mina asked.  
  
Star face faulted. " Imagine how one blue hedgehog can make you feel after a blow to the head.." He then noticed Mina was serious and decided he'd better tell her, as her anticipating eyes would probably haunt him until he did.  
  
"The blue hedgehog was teasing the red haired girl.chipmunk-girl...err squirrel.uh..."  
  
"Her name's princess Sally.of course she apparently from past experiences she likes anyone to call her Sally without the princess part." Mina informed.  
  
".Anyway.' Sally' teased him a bit first with a rabbit friend but in the end got really upset at the fact that he made a joke back concerning a hobby.something concerning signing petitions and ruling. and she stormed off. Then this Sonic character ran after her but whispered something in your ear, then gave you a hug."  
  
"And then? What happened? Mina said wide-eyed with an adrenaline rush.  
  
"And then he pet your head."  
  
Mina pouted a bit in disappointment as she was hoping it was a kiss. Of course her disappointment faded in a few moments and her lips formed a smile. Even though it wasn't a kiss she probably would still be feeling pretty good if she were awake at that moment to enjoy the moment.  
  
"Well what did he whisper in her ear Star? Angel chimed in.  
  
"Well looks like we've got another hopeless romantic in the room." Demon mumbled under his breath, but Angel ignored him.  
  
"I don't know..." Star said looking at his feet.  
  
"C'mon!" Angel urged suspecting he was fibbing.  
  
"I--I don't know! It was something meant for Mina and Mina alone!"  
  
"Then why are you implying you know it if you don't know?!" Angel yelled.  
  
"Hey you two stop that. look could you just tell us what he said." Mina groaned  
  
"Okay.if you say so Mina." Star sighed before telling everyone what Sonic had whispered in Mina's ear. Afterwards there was a moment of silence.  
  
"AWWWWWWWWWWWW That is soooo sweet!" Angel breathed. "I wish a guy was that sweet for me."  
  
Demon frowned. "I'm sweet!"  
  
Angel responded by shaking her head.  
  
"No your not."  
  
" She's right.you are not that sweet to her Demon." Mina agreed.  
  
"See?" Angel said triumphantly, happy that she was successfully proving her point to everyone else.  
  
"Fine.whatever." Demon scoffed. "Who could blame me anyway, your soooooo annoying."  
  
Angel's eyes narrowed and her fist shook. She let out a loud growl and then stormed into a corner for a few minutes to be away from the dark chao.  
  
Meanwhile Mina lied back on her bed again. Her mood was very good despite the consistent confrontations amongst the chao, slowly her eyes grew heavy and stung indicating she needed sleep and gradually sleep and Mina met for the night.  
  
'I'll get better.for you Sonic.' She thought to herself right before she went back to sleep.  
  
Mina would continue to sleep she saw visions of Sonic, of singing, of visiting Rosie and playing with either the chao or the orphans Rosie raised. She was dreaming she and her dreams only got a chance to meet for a few hours during the night. Even though they had to go when they sun's rays touched her eyes they would show her images of what made her happy. Her heart felt like it was flying as the dreams continued, and everything felt at peace. Everything she wanted to see her friendly dreams would show her. They pleased and comforted her and seemed as if they were friends to support her as best they could. Their visions were all they could offer and the dreams tried their best. But in her mind Mina knew that they could show her what she wanted, but she'd have to make it happen.  
  
Her most current dream was of her and Sonic standing in a dimly lit area by a pool of water. The pool's water was cool and the breeze allowed a fresh aroma of sweet water blew in her face and went in and out of her nostrils. The sky was dark blue with stars that lit up the sky a little. They looked like many diamonds on a cobalt blue dress. The moon however stuck out the most. Its figure was round and it glowed. Craters could be seen in it but it almost looked as if it were giving a warm, welcoming smile. Apart of the moon wasn't there and that subtracted from the beauty it used to have but it was still quite radiant. To Mina, it wasn't the most radiant thing there. Two green eyes were gazing at her, she could tell because she was gazing back at them. The trees were thick and rich, but helped the secrecy of the moment. The owner of those eyes belonged to a blue hedgehog she admired so much in life. His trademark grins instantly made her smile and then the hedgehog leaned closer to her, and then her heart rate increased. It would only increase more as his hand brushed her wavy purple hair out of her face so he could lean to kiss her. Mina smiled at him and took equal aggression to the situation as she closed her eyes and puckered her lips, the hedgehog following her lead.  
  
Suddenly a loud noise could be heard. It rang in Mina's ears loudly and she tried her best to cover them so the sound didn't bother her as much. Then the dark sky showed light piercing the sky. In the real world day had approached. Mina looked around to at least tell this hedgehog goodbye but he was gone, and the romantic moment crumbled beneath her feet.  
  
"Darn!" Mina shouted as she looked around to turn off her alarm clock. "It was just about to get good!"  
  
"What was?" Angel said groggily awakening from her sleep.  
  
Mina was about to answer when an older Mongoose started making her way towards her room.  
  
"Honey is everything okay? I am bringing some breakfast!" Her mother shouted.  
  
The younger Mongoose looked at her bed. Angel, Demon and Star were on it now scrambling to the box for a place to hide. Mina knew they wouldn't make it in time so she grabbed them and hid them behind her pillow a second before her mother came in.  
  
"Sorry to burst in here so sudden but here's some toast, fruit, and some milk. I decided I'd make today's meals light so you could focus on getting more rest done than eating."  
  
Mina looked at her mother with a puzzled face.  
  
"But mom its Monday and the second semester starts today!" Mina protested. She wasn't exactly thrilled about school today especially but she got the feeling that if she didn't go she'd get behind in her classes.and unless she wanted to spend her days in summer school at Knothole High School instead of spending time training with Sonic, that couldn't be an option.  
  
"Look its okay sweetie, Doctor Quack said you should probably try resting for just today when he came over. We didn't really come in your room, because he was afraid we'd disturb you, but as for school I already have someone who's agreed to go get your things from there and--," Mina's mother stopped mid sentence when she heard a knock on the door.  
  
"Mrs. Mongoose? Are you there?" The voice called out.  
  
"Looks like he's here!" The older Mongoose said before shutting Mina's door to open the door that was a means of entrance into the hut.  
  
"Good morning Sonic. I've been waiting for you."  
  
Sonic scratched his head in embarrassment.  
  
"Sorry, I had to warn my friends I would be late for training. Can I see Mina? I need her schedule."  
  
The Mongoose nodded thus the hedgehog led himself into the hut and made his way to Mina's room.  
  
"Hey Mina-girl its me.Sonic. Is it okay if I come in?" Sonic said softly against the door.  
  
"Sure c'mon in!" Mina answered softly.  
  
Sonic didn't take too long to hesitate. He swung the door open and patted her head, once again avoiding the swollen area, but noticed it wasn't as big as it was the night before.  
  
"How are you?" Mina asked.  
  
"Me? What about you? You've got quite a bump on your head."  
  
Curiously, Mina ran her fingers around her head until it touched a bumpy area and winced in pain as her fingers made contact with it. Sonic had noticed what happened and grabbed the hand that she was touching the bump with.  
  
"Mina cut that out your going to put yourself in even more pain!"  
  
"I'm sorry Sonic." Mina mumbled.  
  
Sonic glanced at her face for a moment, the facial expression far from pleased before realizing that the conversation probably wasn't heading for a good turn.  
  
'Geez first Sal got all sore on me and now Mina too? This totally sucks.' He thought to himself. Confirming the problem he tried to make a solution.  
  
"Its okay Mina.you just rest okay, when your healed we can race some more, but we're going to hopefully be more careful."  
  
"Really? You mean you'd want to train with me after what I did?"  
  
Sonic shrugged. "You make it sound like you did it on purpose, of course I don't mind after all it was an accident." Sonic said happy he successfully changed the subject before he could upset her.  
  
"Sonic! School's about to start did you get her schedule?" Mrs. Mongoose asked.  
  
Sonic sweat dropped. "Oh I nearly forgot to ask.but Mina could I see your schedule?"  
  
Mina looked at him and blushed. "I.don't have it with me right now but I think I could give you all the information you'll need by memory."  
  
"Cool.uh hold on a sec." Sonic replied before rushing out the room and about a second later dashed back with a piece of paper and pen.  
  
Mina took the paper and pencil and quickly started scribbling names of her teachers and their room numbers before handing the paper back to Sonic.  
  
"Thanks Mina, I'll check up on you later with some of your work."  
  
"Bye Sonic!" Mina said before feeling a blast of cold air as he ran out the room with incredible speed. His legs started racing out the hut and made its way to Mina's High School when he noticed something that made him gasp.  
  
"Mina?" He thought aloud as he saw a purple haired Mongoose walk after him; she had the same wavy purple hair, the same fur, and the same green eyes. Unlike the white pajamas he had seen the mongoose wore before he left her hut, she was wearing her average black top, brown shorts, and tail boots and gloves. He noticed Bunnie walking to the training grounds, waving at him too but then stood dead in her tracks about as surprised as Sonic was when the Mongoose who couldn't even open her eyes yesterday was out and about today, she'd become even more surprised when the Mongoose pressed her lips against his.  
  
"What in goodness' name do yuh think yer doin' Mina?" The rabbit asked in shock understanding that things were getting weird to weirder.  
  
"What does it look like? I'm kissing him you idiot. Is it that hard to tell or should I make it a little more clear to you?" The mongoose said coldly before kissing him deeply.  
  
Sonic's cheeks burned and Bunnie's facial expression darkened, as she would have preferred the girl to be kissing him her best friend princess Sally, especially after witnessing this rude attitude. Quickly as the mongoose was kissing him Sonic pried her off of his body only to see her with a grin on her face.  
  
"Hello lover." She said with a seductive voice.  
  
Something really wasn't right, and Sonic knew it.  
  
"Mina? Are you okay?" Asked nervously.  
  
"Okay? I've never felt better!" the mongoose exclaimed.  
  
Sonic's stomach twisted. Mina just didn't seem...Mina. She wasn't acting like the shy, sweet girl who was never normally this rude or pushy. Sonic ran his hand through Mina's hair to check if the swelling on her head had grown.  
  
'Maybe she's just not in her right mind.... that's got to be it.' Sonic thought to himself. However, when he saw the area on Mina's head where the bump last was to be seen, not only had the swelling not grown, but it was gone completely.  
  
"What're you doing Sonic?"  
  
"N-nothing Mina..." Sonic lied. "It's just that your bump--" Sonic was cut off from his second sentence as Mina gave Sonic another kiss, just much deeper than before.  
  
"That's it!" Sonic shouted before grabbing Mina by the wrist running with intense amounts of speed. As he approached the hut he let go of Mina's hand and jabbed his index finger in its direction.  
  
"Why are you doing this Mina? You should be asleep in there!" Sonic said pointing into her bedroom, but as he glanced at the room Mina was already in there fast asleep.  
  
"What?" Sonic asked himself before turning around to face the girl he had just dragged to the hut. She was no longer behind him.  
  
Sonic scratched his head and sure enough as he looked at Mina she was in her same outfit she was when he asked for her class schedule at home.  
  
"But... if Mina's been in there...who was that girl?" Sonic asked himself before slowly walking towards the school again. The pace of his legs started to increase more and more, eventually allowing this blue hedgehog to run to the school in a matter of seconds. Once again, he made his run to the school and suddenly the mongoose girl appeared again.  
  
"Hey Sonic." She said with a wide grin.  
  
"You disappeared a few minutes ago didn't you?"  
  
The girl nodded to Sonic's distaste. 'She's just apart of your imagination Sonic...yeah pay no mind to her and she'll go away.' Sonic thought to himself as he continued to speed off giving Mina no reason.  
  
"Sooooooonic! Sonic wait!" She called out to him but his heart was still set on ignoring her. Mina frowned. "How...how DARE he treat me that way!" She mumbled furiously. The mongoose's cheeks burned and she stomped loudly in the opposite direction Sonic ran. She had no interest in following him as he had already upset. "I will not be addressed in that way.... EVER!" She shouted before slamming her fist into a market table and tossed over some of the food that were fresh, moist vegetables like apples, oranges, grapes and bananas. A few papayas had also been damaged and the vegetables such as carrots, broccoli and corn had flown into the air and ruined when they reached the ground. A few villagers stared at Mina wide eyed as she stomped off. 'Well gee I feel better.' She thought as she marched. The owner of the market hadn't been there when his merchandise was completely destroyed but the commotion caused him to run outside. He had a flat tail and was brown with white fur in the center around his belly. His buck ivory colored teeth stuck out of his moth and he wore a white apron as he was holding a cart of food from his average looking hut. Almost instantly the man's heart sank and his eyes began to burn, then in front of all his neighbors and fellow villagers, the middle-aged beaver began to sob as the merchandise he worked so hard to gain was now all gone.  
  
Eventually the next morning Mina woke up feeling a lot better. The bump on her head had left and she had finished all of her assignments the night before.  
  
"Mina what're you doing? Aren't you gonna stay home?" Angel asked as the mongoose got up and started getting dressed in the bathroom. Putting on her black shirt and headband, then her brown shorts and tail boots and gloves.  
  
"Sorry but momma says I'm fine enough to go to school." Mina said with a lack of enthusiasm while she was in the bathroom.  
  
"Well ok...hurry back from this...school Mina ok?"  
  
Mina opened the bathroom door, trying to smile. "Sure Angel, I'll try." Mina replied even though she didn't want to tell Angel school took several hours of her day but decided not to tell her until she actually had the time to explain school and why it took so long. Besides she was wondering why Sonic had been acting so strange the other evening when coming to give her assignments from school.  
  
The mongoose looked out of her window deep in thought as her eyes adjusted to the sunlight that pinched at her eyes. It looked so pretty and it was so radiant, Knothole was probably the best place in awhile to see the sun, as pollution caused by the nearby city of Robotroplis made things like the sun and stars less visible to see. They young mongoose girl made an attempt to take a deep breath when she saw something she couldn't believe.  
  
"Eeeek! Someone stop her!" Screamed a loud and low feminine voice. The girl the woman referred to as 'her' looked identical to Mina. She had the same green eyes, the same long mauve hair and the same outfit she normally wore. Mina grabbed her backpack and followed her. The girl was eating a chocolate cake; it had a strong, sweet, warm scent that made Mina's stomach erupt with hunger as she neglected to eat any food for breakfast.  
  
"Stop! Thief!" The lady's deep voice hollered holding a large, sharp knife. It didn't look like she was going to hit her with it, but it was something she held as she charged. She was a rather plump parrot with assorted colors. Her feathers were a bright red decorated with oranges, yellows and greens. She looked like a mythical bird, not a parrot and her dark brown eyes looked like they could burn a hole through anything she was so upset. The middle aged woman wore a baker's outfit with a plump had resembling a mushroom and a dress made of white.  
  
"You didn't pay for that cake I order you to stop this instant!" The she shouted.  
  
"Cake?" Mina said aloud and then looked at the girl ahead. She was munching on that chocolate cake, with chocolate covering her mouth. The parrot's heart pounded and she shook her hands even faster with anger. Suddenly the knife she held in her hand was an object she lost grip of and watched as it hurled at both Mina and the other mongoose. Mina whom had been keeping an eye on the parrot knew to duck and dropped onto the ground as soon as possible. The other girl who had been munching on her cake didn't realize the knife was now going to strike her and then it happened. She let out an agonizing scream as the knife slashed her cheek causing a deep, wide gash on it. Instantly she fell to the ground and cried in pain before a few people ran to take pictures as blood oozed onto the ground, tainting it instantly. Mina slowly lifted herself up and looked at the girl who was struck. Indeed her wound was rather bad.  
  
"Young lady is she your sister?" The parrot asked with a shaky voice.  
  
"No... I don't know who she is because she looked just like me."  
  
"I'd think so too..." The parrot agreed. "That cake was going to someone called Miss Miranda and the girl stole it without payin'." The parrot then looked at Mina. "Saaay shouldn't you be going to school? Judging by how early you woke up you must be in high school, well hate to break it to ya but your almost late."  
  
Mina gasped briefly and looked at the parrot's clock. She had about ten minutes. "Oh my GOSH! I'm gonna be late!" Mina yelled aloud before pumping her legs rapidly in the direction of her school.  
  
Mina felt her feet kicking up dirt as she ran through the village, the strong aroma of the soil filling her nose, but it was something that never smarted them since she was so used to it. Eventually Mina made it into the building just as the bell rang. She crouched over and huffed hoping to gather air into her tight lungs. When she could finally breathe on her own Mina slowly walked through the building to find where her class was. She may be late but during the first few days of the semester being late was fine if you didn't know where your class was. Mina looked around and eventually found her first period class. The teacher wasn't in the class in the children seemed to be misbehaving in the classroom, but Mina didn't care. She was just happy she made it without the teacher knowing she was late.  
  
The absent teacher soon arrived into the class. He was an own with a beak that looked like polished gold. The feathers on his body were porcelain white and his eyes were a sky blue. He wore nothing more than a gray sweater and slowly he made his way to the front of the class.  
  
"Good morning." He cooed. "My name is Mr. Naato and I will be your substitute teacher. Your regular teacher is off today and apparently he told you that yesterday...I'm sorry to be late but I had difficulty getting to the school."  
  
The owl then looked at Mina. "Excuse me miss but do you have a sister? I saw a girl running around the village who got her face cut very badly. Yours looks fine, so..."  
  
"No sir, I don't have a sister that looks exactly like me."  
  
Mr. Naato shrugged. "Well then lets get started. Firstly we will collect homework, then start role and then do a few worksheets your teacher's found for you students to work with. Now--" The bird was cut off by a thundering noise that shook the walls. Everyone gasped.  
  
"Kids be quiet we could be under attack by Robotnik! I'll go check to see what happened with the principal." The white owl with no hesitation started to flap his wings, which helped him lift his body from the ground and fly out of the room and in the direction of the office.  
  
Mina looked around in panic. Nothing more than sweet cherry wood walls with occasional painted bricks. The scent of the trees made no air fresheners necessary in the classroom as the lumber made everything smell very sweet. As the bird huffed and puffed as he flew back into the classroom many students rose out of their wooden seats and avoided the work they should've been attending to at their desks held up only by metal legs. Mina was amongst these students, as the substitute teacher's face is grim.  
  
"A girl with a large wound on her face is destroying the building. I wasn't given details as to how she looked but the principal said it'd be safe to stay indo--" Suddenly the window in front of the teacher's large, wooden oak desk shattered. Pieces of glass pricked anyone who stood nearby causing a few cuts and scrapes to a few of the students. The cause of this act was a girl with a large gash on her face. A wound deeply embedded into her face. Oddly enough she didn't seem to mind and gave a cold smile. She looked like a zombie, something that wasn't living. Her eyes looked dead and her smile was cold.  
  
She had wavy purple hair like Mina's but it looked dull now and her eyes looked cold and didn't have the sparkle Mina's did. Her cheek had a blood on it as the bleeding spread across her face. Yet the girl didn't seem to mind, she simply gave a very disturbing smile. Her eyes looked around the room and finally met a girl who looked just like you.  
  
"Your the one." She said coolly. Her eyes looked like they were flickering causing the entire class to back away from her. Her face looked at Mina, giving her an ominous feeling. Something wasn't right. "I found you..." She whispered. A large metal pole was held in her hand. It was a thick bar with a decorated board. On it, a hoop was neatly knit on the hoop.  
  
"She took the basketball pole!!" A plump black pig said. He wore nothing save a golden ring placed on the center of her nostrils and an earring on one of his ears that matched the one in his nose.  
  
"Aren't we smart piglet?" The girl snarled before ramming the pole against the wall of the room, completely destroying it. The class panicked, the teacher being the first to make a move out the doorway. As the students ran as fast as they could out the room in panic Mina felt her hair grabbed and yanked so that a painful sensation rose to her head every time she made an effort to leave.  
  
"Not so fast...I've been looking for you." the girl said darkly.  
  
"What do you want?" Mina asked before hitting the girl near her wound causing her to shriek long enough to drop her so she can attend to her wound. Mina rubbed her head as she stood up after being dropped onto the floor.  
  
The other mongoose narrowed her eyes. "You should know exactly what I want. To kill you!" She said.  
  
"Kill me?"  
  
"You heard right miss Mongoose I want you dead. I really don't have much against you. But in my world it's either kill or possibly even be killed yourself."  
  
Mina blinked. "What makes you think I want to kill you?"  
  
"You must be new at this. You see its not really accident you got the box. Thus I by all means want you dead. You purposely opened the box because you wanted to change your world. But that change would mean the imprisonment, or death of me. I can't let that happen. I deserve my freedom!" She shouted feeling her eyes grow warm.  
  
"...If your coming after me that means your a..." Mina's voice trailed off.  
  
"A what? A sin often times something generally seen by society as bad. But why am I bad? Am I really bad? I don't think I am." The other girl sighed. "I am the sin known as fear. I am the embodiment of all who have it in their hearts. You little girl have fear. You have apart of me. Yet you resent me. You hate me. I am an obstacle whom Mobians should overcome, not destroy because they are too weak to face the challenge. Through me people get stronger. If there was no fear the accomplishments people make wouldn't be different. As different things as well as different people, furries and other life forms are afraid of different situations. Making an accomplishment much more worthwhile when its achieved. So little girl...why am I bad? Why was it such a crime to get rid of me from the world when I help it?" A sharp end of the board of the basketball pole was then aimed at her neck.  
  
"If you came to kill...and promote wickedness then you can't be as good as you saying you are. Earlier today you stole from someone. Today you ruined a school. Even if fear isn't completely bad you who promotes the entity are far from pure."  
  
Fear wrinkled her nose. "It had to be done. That parrot is fears her food may go to waste. She became careless so I reminded her of her fear to keep her on her toes. The principal of the school takes pride in this school and wouldn't want anything bad to happen to it. That's why I trashed some of the school instead of quietly waiting for you until your school time ended. I know you. I know everything about you because I've been nesting in you for a long time little miss MINA. I know everyone because I'm apart of everyone. I have a use to this world."  
  
Mina got defensive again." Then why were you put in the--"  
  
"Box?" Fear finished. "Easy, fear can be used for good things but it can also be for bad. Prejudice and things you see today like furries hatred with overlanders. I, fear, cause it all. They fear each other so they show hostility to each other. They cannot trust each other so by no means do they like to be in each other's company. Far from that, this world has plenty of examples. Dingoes versus the echidnas, furries outside of the floating island have prejudice and war against humans and then you have in some cases fear and insecurity causing furries to battle each other. I was sealed away because I caused people to feel negatively like I do today. Still even if I do that, it's the option of the carrier of me to overcome me. So how is it my fault?"  
  
"I would think that has something to do with the idea that the fear wouldn't have needed to be overcome if it wasn't given to Mobians in the first place." Mina protested.  
  
Fear looked away. "So your think you know everything? You will see... Here's what I want. Meet me tomorrow. Go to the place you ran into the tree when training with Sonic."  
  
"W-why?" Mina stuttered.  
  
Fear started to grin. "I notice my presence is becoming stronger within you. Your scared." That's a pity as when you figure out what will occur when you get there, you will die if you don't overcome the part of me within you...see you then!"  
  
"What if I don't go?"  
  
"You'll be arrested." Fear said simply. "Yesterday I committed a crime. You weren't in the same area as me so the witnesses at the market won't know the difference between you and that or I we were different. It's only a matter of time before they figure out that I look just like you, and then they'll hunt you down for a crime I committed. I knew you might back out due to fear, as I am fear. So I decided to bring in some insurance you'd arrive by doing what I know by instinct scares you and the result of your arrest will scare you too."  
  
"So... you set me up!"  
  
Fear smiled and nodded. "Yes, I had to. Your duty is to confront me. If you come then I will erase the memories of all who saw me. Every witness had fear and shock in their hearts and I can use that to manipulate them at will as can other sins. If you don't come I'll let the authorities handle you and I know you're afraid of that possibility. I'll discuss the stakes when you arrive at the chosen area you understand?"  
  
Mina hung her head. "Yes..." She said with defeat.  
  
"Then it's a date--err wait that didn't sound right. Look just meet me tomorrow." She ordered as she dropped the pole and then jumped out of the broken window in an attempt to leave.  
  
Mina looked nervously out of her window. She had no idea as to what do. She had no choice but to go. If she didn't she'd be arrested, if she did something bad could happen as she didn't trust fear whatsoever. She was cunning and used the fact she was apart of Mina to the mongoose's disadvantage. Something told her when she met fear the next day, something would be terribly wrong.  
  
~End 


End file.
